The Barclays, Round 2
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
WRAPPING UP ROUND 2 (7 p.m.): Rookie Webb Simpson will get a new experience Saturday -- for the first time in his short PGA TOUR career, he'll be the leader going into a round.
By shooting a 3-under 68 Friday, Simpson has moved to 8-under for the tournament, two shots better than the trio of Paul Goydos, Steve Marino and Heath Slocum.
Simpson has never led in any of his previous 23 starts on TOUR this year. He was tied for second after the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, and tied for fifth twice after 36 holes. -- Mike McAllister
STRICKER STRUGGLES, STAYS CLOSE (6:50 p.m.): Steve Stricker, the 2007 Barclays winner, hit just seven of 18 greens in regulation Friday afternoon but still managed a 1-under 70 that puts him in the top 10 on the leaderboard going into the weekend.
"My short game in general saved me," Stricker said. So did his putter -- he made all 17 of his putts inside 10 feet Friday.
But Stricker knows he'll need to start hitting more greens this weekend if he wants to move up the leaderboard.
"The ball is sitting down and they are wet and it's tough to make clean contact," Stricker said. "At least I'm having a hard time making solid contact a lot. It's a lot of squirters, so it's pretty tough." -- Mike McAllister
MARINO IN THE MIX (6:35 p.m.): Steve Marino couldn't keep pace with his opening 66 but given the damp, dreary conditions at Liberty National on Friday, that round of 71 he shot was more than acceptable.
Marino will start the third round at 6 under, tied with Paul Goydos, and two strokes behind PGA TOUR rookie Webb Simpson. Even though the course "showed its teeth a little bit," Marino said, he hung tough when it counted.
"I think we caught a little bit of a break this afternoon," Marino said. "We teed off on 10, I thought it was just going to be awful out there ... (but) it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. So yeah, I'm real happy with the way I played today. Even par today I thought was pretty good. I didn't play great but I made some nice putts. I'm real excited about the weekend."
The 10th hole was a particular challenge on Friday. Marino said he had to lay up with a 5-wood on the 438-yard par 4. But he made a 12-footer for par there and an 18-footer on the 11th when he missed the green to the right to set the tone for a gritty day.
"Most of the time, you're not going to make those putts," Marino said. "So I could have been 2 over after two and instead I'm even. From then on, I kind of settled in and played pretty good." -- Helen Ross
CREASES AND FOLDS (6:30 p.m.): Good quote from Paul Goydos on the undulating greens at Liberty National: "You've got greens that look like my shirts after I've packed them." -- Mike McAllister
GOYDOS STILL IN CONTENTION (6:22 p.m.): First-round co-leader Paul Goydos didn't end his round on a happy note, with bogeys on three of his final four holes. That left him with an even-par 71 for the day, 6 under for the tournament and two behind rookie Webb Simpson, who is still on the course.
Still, he'll enter the weekend solidly in contention for his first PGA TOUR win since the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.
"Didn't finish the way I wanted but I started better than I expected," said Goydos, who played his first 14 holes Friday in 3 under before hitting his rocky stretch. "The golf course was obviously very difficult this morning for those poor guys who had to play early. The first few holes played tough, but the weather kind of laid down for us."
Indeed, after his first five holes, Goydos didn't have to deal with the rainy conditions that the players in Friday's morning wave had to suffer through.
But more than the weather, Goydos' success this week can be attributed in large part to his putting. He's needed just 51 putts through the first two rounds. He ranks first this week in total putting.
"Obviously I've putted very well for two days," he said. "I've had good speed on the greens. Things have gone my way for two days. Hopefully it will go my way for four days." -- Mike McAllister
ELS HAS EASIER DAY (6:15 p.m.): When he played his first four holes in 4 over on Thursday, Ernie Els had to be thinking this wasn't going to be his week. He bounced back with five birdies in his next seven holes, though, and came in with a 72.
On Friday, Els found even more of a comfort zone at Liberty National, shooting a 3-under 68 that moved him from a tie for 57th into a share of ninth. It was the day's low round when he finished, although the leader, Webb Simpson, is currently 3 under through 14 holes. .
"I'm playing good," the big South African said. "I've had three water balls so far this week, two double bogeys and quite a few bogeys, especially yesterday. I was 4 over through four holes yesterday, so I've got to be pretty pleased with where I am right now.
"Overall game is pretty good. I guess I'm still trying to get used to the holes, the way they are designed, and maybe I should play away from some of the trouble. That's what I'm still trying to figure out."
One thing Els does have figured out, though, was the 16th hole. He made birdie on the driveable par 4 in the first round and posted one of two eagles there on Friday. Dustin Johnson had the other when he chipped in from 37 feet.
"Today it was downwind, 288, I hit a driver for a change, straight, to 8 feet for eagle,' Els said. "That was kind of nice. Overall I'm playing good. I've really driven the ball well so far. My iron play feels good. My putter feels better. You know, I might even have a chance this weekend, we'll see." -- Helen Ross
TEE TIME UPDATE FOR SATURDAY (6 p.m.): Due to the threat of heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Danny on Saturday morning, the decision has been made to delay the start of the third round until 10:30 a.m. ET. Players will be sent off two tees in threesomes. The size of the cut will determine the final tee time. -- Helen Ross
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE (5:40 p.m.): When Justin Rose began the Playoffs, he was 91st in FedExCup points. When he finished Thursday's first round after shooting a 2-over 73, he was projected at 105th -- which would mean he would not move on to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
So Rose put it into gear Friday morning, battling to shoot a 1-over 72 in some brutally tough conditions. That left him at 3-over for the tournament and ensures that he will make the cut this weekend. And because he'll make the cut, he's projected to have a spot at TPC Boston, as the top 100 in points moves on to the second event of the Playoffs.
"I was in a precarious situation this week," Rose said. "Miss the cut and I don't advance. Make the cut and I'm pretty much assured."
Rose, who tied for fifth at last week's Wyndham Championship, had to survive a four-hole stretch in which he dropped four shots. He bounced back with birdies at the 13th and 14th holes.
"It was brutally hard," Rose said. "I played out of my skin today ... I played as good as I can for 1 over."
As a result, Rose becomes a prime example of a player who may not be battling for the lead but is battling to stay alive in the Playoffs.
"For me," Rose said, "it was more than just this tournament, know what I mean? That's the beauty of the playoffs. I was feeling the heat because of that." -- Mike McAllister
SECOND ROUND WINDING DOWN (5:25 p.m.): There's maybe an hour left in the second round of The Barclays and what we've discovered over nearly two days of golf is that Liberty National is playing extremely difficult. As such, there's a pretty mixed leaderboard.
The name on the top of it? Webb Simpson, the rookie from Wake Forest who finished in the top 10 in each of his first two PGA TOUR events this season before promptly missing 10 of his next 19 cuts, including each of his last two.
Those two top-10s were huge for Simpson, though, because as a rookie who qualified for the PGA TOUR via q-school, he wasn't necessarily guaranteed spots in all the events he ultimately played. But because he finished in the top-10, he not only gained valuable FedExCup points early in the season, he picked up key dollars that helped him with the March reshuffle, clearing the way for him to get into more events.
Now, Simpson is 8 under and leading by two in the first Playoffs event -- one he may not have qualified for if not for that early success. In fact, had Simpson missed the cut in those two events, he may have very well not qualified for this event and could be staring at not having a TOUR card for next season, which is something about two-thirds of q-school grads are faced with each year. -- Brian Wacker
ON THE OUTS (5 p.m.): As we march toward the conclusion of the second round of The Barclays, more is at stake than who will make the cut and who won't. With only the top 100 advancing to next week's Playoffs event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, some guys will be going home this weekend and for pretty much the rest of the season (except for the Fall Series).
Nick O'Hern, Ryuji Imada, K.J. Choi, George McNeill and Daniel Chopra all entered this week 100th or better in the FedExCup standings. As of right now, all are projected to finish outside the top 100 after this week. Only Chopra, who is currently 2 under through 11 holes today and 4 over for the week, has a chance to change that since he's the only one likely to make the cut.
Then there's Todd Hamilton. He came in 121st in the standings and is projected to finish 109th. At 3 over through two rounds, though, he'll have a chance to extend his season yet another week if he can play well Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise, Hamilton will have to wait for the Fall Series for a chance to extend his playing privileges in 2010 since his five-year exemption for winning the British Open is up after this season.
Similarly, Adam Scott, snuck into the field this week at 116th in the standings. With the cut line moving to 5 over, he'll play the weekend, too. If he wants to advance to Boston, though, he'll need to turn it on over the weekend -- right now Scott is projected to finish 120th. -- Brian Wacker
SLOCUM STEPPING UP (4:46 p.m.): Heath Slocum needs a big week at The Barclays to advance to the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He came to Liberty National ranked 124th in the standings and only the top 100 make the field for the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Looks like Slocum is taking care of business, too. He shot a 5-under 66 on Thursday and he's even par through nine holes of the second round.
Slocum missed the cut at last week's Wyndham Championship, but he closed with a 66 that must have given him some momentum. He made seven birdies and two bogeys on Thursday and has one of each over nine holes on Thursday.
Slocum finished 30th in the first FedExCup, playing his way all the way to Atlanta, and 61sta year ago when he lasted through the first three Playoff events. -- Helen Ross
SINGH'S STRUGGLES (4:35 p.m.): Looks like Vijay Singh, who won The Barclays last year and is a four-time champion of the event, may miss the cut at the first event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Singh, who rode a win here and at the Deutsche Bank Championship to the FedExCup title last year, opened with a 75 and shot a 40 on the back nine, his first in the second round. He did manage an 11-foot birdie putt on the first hole, but is still 8 over for the tournament with seven remaining.
Singh entered The Barclays ranked 59th in the FedExCup. Only the top 42 at the start of the week were mathematically guaranteed a spot at TPC Boston next week. -- Helen Ross
HOWELL HOLDING HIS OWN (4:20 p.m.): Charles Howell III posted one of the day's extremely rare sub-par rounds when he signed for a 70. He said he thought he went through six or seven towels during the off-and-on downpours -- but at the same time, he said the wet, windy conditions didn't exactly sneak up on anyone.
"You know it's rough when it's raining when you're warming up," said Howell, who teed off at 7:59 a.m, with a wry smile. "That's usually reserved for the British Open. You know it's going to be a long day."
That said, Howell knew the wind and rain could be a great equalizer. He used his round of 1 under to move from a tie for 106th to above the cut line.
"I don't think you can look at this weather and say you feel a good one coming on but I knew it would be difficult for everybody and I knew I had to play a good round to be here on the weekend," said Howell, who is ranked 32nd in the FedExCup standings.
"It's such of a grind hole-to-hole you don't even think about the whole round. You're just thinking about the next shot. There are some par 4s where you're struggling just to reach them in regulation and you're just trying to find some goofy way to make a par on a lot of the holes.
"If you couple that with the fact that nobody's ever seen the course in competiiton, it's a bit odd."
Howell, who made three birdies and two bogeys on Friday, agreed with some of his peers who said Liberty National was playing like a major championship venue.
"Look at the scores and it will tell you that," he said. "... It's one thing to get a nice shower and then the sun come out and it be calm. but when it's wind and rain like this on a long golf course it's tough. On a good weather day, this golf course would be difficult so when it gets like this and par's such a premium, that's where the major comes in." -- Helen Ross
ANOTHER WD (4:10 p.m.): Camilo Villegas, who won the final two events of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup last year, withdrew Friday after nine holes of his second round at The Barclays due to an injured left wrist.
Villegas hurt the wrist on Thursday when he was lifting weights. He started on the back nine Friday and tweaked the wrist again when he was hitting from the left rough at the 17thhole on the way to his second double bogey of the day.
Villegas, who is ranked 35thin the FedExCup standings, didn't want to take any chances with the Deutsche Bank Championship on the horizon. The young Colombian, who opened with a 75, was 11 over for the tournament when he withdrew.
Villegas is the fourth player to withdraw from The Barclays since the tournament began -- joining Michael Letzig (wrist), Chris Stroud (family matters) and Mathew Goggin (back). World No. 3 Paul Casey withdrew on Tuesday due to a nagging rib injury. -- Helen Ross
MARINO MAKES A MOVE (3:55 p.m.): How much easier has play been in the afternoon at Liberty National compared to this morning, when it was raining steadily? Well, more players are under par now than were earlier. That includes Steve Marino, who is 2 under through his first 10 holes today. That moves him to the top of the leaderboard at 8 under for the week with Paul Goydos, 1 under today, and Webb Simpson, 2 under on his round so far, one shot back. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER UPDATE (3:20 p.m.): After an early tee time yesterday, Tiger Woods was out late today and so far is 1 under through seven holes with birdies on each of his last two holes.
Anything under par, even in the better afternoon conditions, is a good score and Woods is playing solid so far on Liberty National's front nine, which he struggled on at times yesterday. Today, he's hit five of six fairways and missed only two greens in regulation while taking 12 putts.
Another good sign for Woods: His putting has been better than solid this week with just one missed putt from inside 10 feet so far. It's the 10 to 15-foot range that's he's struggled with if anything, making just one of four so far. To follow Woods' round live with Shot Tracker, click here. -- Brian Wacker
EASING UP? (3:10 p.m.): Liberty National appears to be playing easier this afternoon, especially with the leaders.
Consider this: The five players currently at the top of the leaderboard have played 29 holes, and have suffered just two bogeys.
Paul Goydos has finished his front nine in a bogey-free 35. Steve Marino is a bogey-free 1 under through seven holes. Heath Slocum is bogey-free through four holes, and Webb Simpson and Fredrik Jacobson have just one bogey apiece.
If they can just stay away from trouble, they'll be in great shape entering the weekend.
Of the morning groups Friday, just two players managed rounds under par, with just two others finishing even on their rounds. The scoring average for those playing Friday morning was 75.55, more than four strokes higher than the morning average in Thursday's first round. -- Mike McAllister
CUT CHECK (2:45 p.m.): With the players in the morning wave having now completed their rounds, the projected cut is 4 over. If that holds, it would be just one stroke less than the highest cut line on the PGA TOUR this year.
The cut for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard was at 5 over, with 74 players making the cut.
Cut lines at 4 over this year include the Memorial Tournament as well as three of the four majors -- the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. -- Mike McAllister
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COURSE HOLDING UP (2:35 p.m.): Liberty National has held up well despite near-constant rain on Friday. There will be no let-up on Saturday if the weather forecast is accurate.
The latest update calls for an 80 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms before 10 a.m. ET, with diminishing precipitation in the afternoon. This will come after Friday's rain, in which the rainfall total is expected to exceed an inch.
Sunday's weather should be better, however -- warm and breezy conditions with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. -- Mike McAllister
POSITIVE WORDS FROM PADDY (2:22 p.m.): If Liberty National needs any endorsement to host big golf events in the future, Padraig Harrington would probably be a good guy to call upon.
Despite shooting a 3-over 75 Friday that included a double-bogey at the par-5 eighth, the three-time major winner said he was very impressed with Liberty National, to the point that "this is good enough for a major."
He added: "This is a major golf course we are playing here. This is a superb test, really puts us right on the limit. This is exactly what we should be playing."
Harrington is even par for the tournament, and he's hoping for equally difficult conditions on the weekend to ensure that the leaders don't run away.
"If you want us to play good golf, if you want to shoot 20-under, yeah, there's other golf courses," he said. "But it's like playing a major out there. You've got to pay attention all the time to every shot. ... I'd love to see a major here in time." -- Mike McAllister
STAT OF THE DAY (2:11 p.m.): Liberty National is playing a bit easier in the afternoon -- Cameron Beckman is 3 under through seven holes, for example -- than it did in the morning, but it's crazy how high some of the scores have been.
Consider this: There have already been seven rounds of 80 or higher turned in. There have been zero rounds in the 60s recorded today, at least not yet. The lowest score of the day so far? A 70, shot by Bill Haas and Charles Howell III.
The worst round today? A 13-over 84 by Ben Curtis. He shot 75 yesterday, but now stands at 14 over. That will earn him a trip home and possibly a trip out of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup -- he's projected to finish 105th and only the top 100 will advance to next week. -- Brian Wacker
HARRINGTON NOT EXACTLY FEELING AT HOME (1:55 p.m.): When you're from Ireland, you're used to playing golf in wet, windy conditions. Well, sort of.
"I am used to it, but it doesn't mean I like it," said Padraig Harrington after shooting a 4-over 75 today -- eight shots higher than in his opening round score in much better conditions.
"When it rains like this at home, you stay indoors. We go to the pub or something, sit by a fire. If it was a wet day at home, I could play off the front tees, but that's a big golf course set up tough. Difficult conditions for a difficult course. I like that once a week. I'm quite happy. It would be tough now to do this four days in a row, you would feel like you played 36 holes a day, not 18."
Unfortunately for Harrington, and the rest of the field, the forecast doesn't look any better for tomorrow, though he did admit it's probably his best chance to make up ground on the field, too.
"if I'm behind, I would obviously like it difficult," Harrington continued. "Now that I know I need to make up some shots, two difficult days won't do me any harm." -- Brian Wacker
MICKELSON UPDATE (1:50 p.m.): Phil Mickelson started his round with five bogeys in his first eight holes before plugging the leaks to post a 4-over 75 on Friday. At 3 over for the tournament, Mickelson will be inside the cut line -- and depending on what happens with the leaders Friday afternoon, he may still be within striking distance on the weekend.
"I feel like I know what I'm trying to do with the golf swing and with the short game and putting especially," Mickelson said. "I'm not scoring the way I want to. But I'm not displeased. "I think that it's getting better and better, and I expected to get improved performances throughout the Playoffs." -- Mike McAllister
A LONG STORY (1:40 p.m.): At 7,419 yards, Liberty National is one of the longer courses on the PGA TOUR. But it's not longer than Hazeltine National, which hosted the PGA Championship and played to 7,674 yards, the longest course in major history.
But add in constant rain and wet conditions Friday, and it's maybe the yardage comparison should be thrown out.
"Forget about the PGA," Sergio Garcia said. "It was the longest course I've played this year."
Garcia, the first-round co-leader after his 6-under 65, posted a 5-over 76 to drop to 1 under for the tournament.
Unlike on Thursday, when good weather and an excellent set-up produced good scoring conditions, the Liberty National course the players saw on Friday was just the opposite. Long irons and fairway woods were constantly pulled from the bag.
"I don't know how many 5- , 4- and 3-irons I hit into the green," Garcia said. "I hit some woods into the green. I'm hitting good drives."
For instance, on the 496-yard, par-4 10th, Garcia used 3-wood on his 220-yard approach shot. He used 5-iron at the seventh when he had 190 yards downwind; usually, he'd hit a 7-iron there.
"It's a two-club difference -- downwind," Garcia said.
"It was pretty much survival mode out there," he added. "It was tough. You just had to make sure that you just didn't let it get to yourself. Unfortunately, it's the kind of day that you need to make a lot of putts to be able to score, and unfortunately I didn't do that." -- Mike McAllister
SERGIO SLIDES DOWN (1:05 p.m.): What a difference a day makes. Sergio Garcia began the day in a tie for the lead. By the time his second round was over, he was tied for 17th thanks to a 5-over 76.
One day after making seven birdies, Garcia had just one on Friday -- and six bogeys. That's what happens when you only hit half your greens at Liberty National, which has certainly toughened up, and take 32 putts, which is five more than he took yesterday.
Consistency has been a problem for the Spaniard all year -- only twice this season has he shot back-to-back rounds in the 60s on the PGA TOUR -- and this week is no different. Garcia didn't have any three-putts among his 30, but he did have just four one-putts, including only one on the back nine. It was also the second-worst score, in relation to par, Garcia has shot as a follow-up to a Round 1 lead. (He posted a 6-over 76 in Round 2 after leading the 2003 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational.)
Fortunately for Garcia, several others players are struggling today, too -- Charley Hoffman is in with a 74 after a 66 yesterday and Padraig Harrington shot 75 after a 67 yesterday. Now it will be interesting to see what the afternoon wave does as it continues to rain at Liberty National. -- Brian Wacker
ANOTHER WD (12:45 p.m.): Michael Letzig has withdrawn due to a wrist injury. Letzig, who opened with a 69, had just birdied the eighth hole, which was his 17th of the day, and was 3 over for the tournament.
Letzig is the third play to have withdrawn -- joining Chris Stroud and Mathew Goggin. -- Helen Ross
TWEET OF THE DAY (12:30 p.m.): It will be interesting to read Ian Poulter's tweets today after he finishes his rain-soaked round at Liberty National.
Poulter, who spent Wednesday evening at Yankee Stadium watching the New York-Texas Ranger game, is managing to hang in there despite the miserable weather conditions. He's 1 over through 14 holes but still 3 under for the tournament.
Poulter opened with a birdie on Friday -- rolling in a 9-footer to briefly move to 5 under and within one shot of the lead. He promptly gave that back when he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the second hole, though.
The affable Brit made three birdies, three pars and four bogeys in his first 10 holes. Poulter's settled down a little on the back nine, though, with five straight pars after the bogey at No. 10. He could soon be the leader in the clubhouse -- which isn't a bad place to be right now. -- Helen Ross
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FLESCH DISQUALIFIED (12 p.m.): Steve Flesch has been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. He signed for a birdie at No. 6 when he actually made par. Flesch, who opened with a 72, came into The Barclays ranked 114th in the FedExCup. So he will not be among the 100 players who advance to play in the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. -- Helen Ross
NO ONE GOING LOW (11:50 a.m.): Only one player -- Charles Howell III -- who teed off in the morning wave is under par during the second round of The Barclays. Howell, who is currently tied for 80th and fighting to make the cut, has played his first 11 holes in 1 under and is 4 over for the tournament.
Mathew Goggin, who ranks 57th in the FedExCup standings, had to withdraw after playing eight holes Friday due to a bad back. He shot 78 in the first round and was 10 over in his second after making four bogeys, two double bogeys and one par.
Any player ranked 42nd or better in the FedExCup standings entering this week is safe for next week's Deutsche Bank Championship. So Goggin will have to see how things shake down -- and how healthy he is -- before heading to Massachusetts. -- Helen Ross
SPECIAL DELIVERY (11:35 a.m.): Lucas Glover got a special delivery -- courtesy of FedEx and Nike -- on Friday during the second round of The Barclays.
Glover cracked his driver on the practice range on Thursday afternoon. A new one was shipped overnight to the reigning U.S. Open champion and delivered to him on the third hole Friday, which was his 12th of the day, where he promptly cranked out a 326-yard drive. He then proceeded to hit his approach to 6 feet but missed the putt.
Glover left his driver out of the bag Friday morning, so he was able to add the new one when it arrived. He ranks 30th on TOUR in driving distance with an average of 297.2 yards. Glover's tee shots on the back-nine par 4s and 5s measured 229, 260, 275, 276, 255, 233 (after hitting his first shot 242 and out of bounds) and 242 yards.
Looks like Glover, who ranks fifth in the FedExCup standings, will have plenty of extra time to get used to the driver. He's 6 over through 12 holes on Friday and 10 over for the tournament. He will be eligibile to play in next week's Deutsche Bank Championship. -- Mike McAllister and Helen Ross
TALKING TIGER (11:17 a.m.): In this week's Monday Backspin, the question of was there any way that Tiger Woods wouldn't win the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and if not, why?
Mathematically, he could absolutely not win. And with a 1-under 70 yesterday, he didn't exactly look to be in his best form -- though how much of that was the course and how much of that was Woods we'll find out in the weeks ahead.
As expected, the question prompted a flood of e-mail to the inbox. Surprisingly, almost every single e-mail overwhelmingly sided with Woods not winning. Some of those are below, with my response. By the way, Woods tees off today at 1:11 p.m. ET. -- Brian Wacker
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HARRINGTON HAS ANOTHER BIG NUMBER (11 a.m.): Padraig Harrington's streak of blowing up on a single hole unfortunately continued Friday when he took a double-bogey 7 on the longest hole at Liberty National, the par-5 611-yard eighth.
Harrington's drive landed right of the cart path and with a tough lie in the rough, his second shot traveled just 71 feet, again finding the rough. He punched out to the fairway, leaving him 274 yards from the hole on his fourth shot.
That shot came up short of the bunker guarding the right side of the green, finding the rough again. He then failed to get up-and-down from there. That left him at 3 over for his round and 1 under for the tournament.
In his previous two starts, Harrington was in contention before finding disaster in the final round. At the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, he took a triple-bogey 8, and then at the PGA Championship, he suffered a quintuple-bogey 8, finding water on both occasions. -- Mike McAllister
STROUD WITHDRAWS (10:40 a.m.): The Barclays field was reduced to 123 players with the withdrawal of Chris Stroud, who returned to his home in Houston to be with his pregnant wife Tiffany. The couple is expecting their first child.
Stroud entered the Playoffs ranked 117th in points, so he will not advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship. Only the top 100 players in points will play at TPC Boston.
Stroud withdrew after shooting a 6-over 77 in Thursday's first round.
Earlier in the week, Paul Casey withdrew due to injury. Ranked 18th in points coming into this week, Casey is guaranteed a spot in next week's event should he be healthy enough to play. -- Mike McAllister
EAGLE LANDS (10:21 a.m.): Dustin Johnson has played the 16th hole in 2 under -- making the first eagle of the tournament on the 324-yard, driveable par 4 on Friday.
The big-hitting Johnson didn't quite reach the green on Friday, as he had on Thursday, but he holed it from 37 feet for the eagle. In the first round, Johnson found the front edge of the green, but was 84 feet from the back right hole location. He eventually made a 20-footer for birdie.
Johnson, who won the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am earlier this year, is 2 under through his first eight holes at Liberty National on Friday. He's 3 under for the tournament and three strokes off the lead. -- Helen Ross
RAINY DAYS (10:10 a.m.): The rain that has arrived on the Jersey coast unfortunately is expected to hang around for a while. And to make matters worse, Tropical Storm Danny is still about 18 hours away. Friday's forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of rain in the morning and a 60 percent chance in the afternoon. The easterly winds should pick up as the day progresses and top out at 10-18 mph, and temperatures will be in the low- to mid-70s. An 80 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms is in the cards for Saturday, too, and the rain could be heavy at times. The good news: Sunday's forecast has improved and there is only a slight chance of rain. -- Helen Ross
WET 'N WILD (10 a.m.): Of the 61 players on the course this morning, just nine are currently under par for their rounds. The rainy conditions have toughened up Liberty National, which yielded some surprisingly generous scores in Thursday's first round. No doubt the players in the morning wave Friday were hoping for better scoring conditions, since they were in the afternoon wave Thursday when the stroke average was 72.42, nearly a stroke higher than those players who played in the Thursday morning wave (71.50). -- Mike McAllister
PLENTY AT STAKE (9:51 a.m.): We all know about the $10 million bonus that goes to the winner of the FedExCup. And we know that all 30 of the players who make the field for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola have a chance to win that prize.
There are other less tangible, but still significant, benefits to getting to play in the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, though (see chart below). -- Helen Ross
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But finishing in the top 30 on the FedExCup points list doesn't get you into the PGA Championship, the other three World Golf Championships (Accenture Match Play Championship, Bridgestone Invitational and HSBC Champions), the following year's Playoff events or the aforementioned SBS Championship.
AIMING FOR TOP 30 (9:40 a.m.): Charley Hoffman started the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup ranked 28th in FedExCup points. Obviously, that puts him dangerously close to the top-30 cutoff for reaching the final event of the Playoffs, THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
Hoffman has never reached East Lake, having finished 68th in points last year, 50th in 2007, and 82nd on the money list in 2006 in his rookie year on TOUR.
Not only would getting to THE TOUR Championship give him a shot at the FedExCup title, it would also get him an invite to three of the four majors -- the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship.
"My goal is to stay in the top 30," Hoffman said. "I've never done it in my career, and that gets you into the majors and all of the good stuff. That's where you want to be."
Hoffman opened The Barclays with a 5-under 67, putting him just one stroke off the pace, but has dropped a couple of strokes Friday morning in the rainy conditions at Liberty National. -- Mike McAllister
TOUGH STARTS (9:30 a.m.): With rain continuing to fall, the scores continue to go up here at Liberty National, where one of yesterday's co-leaders, Sergio Garcia, has already given a couple of strokes back with two early bogeys. He's hardly alone, though -- Padraig Harrington is 1 over through seven holes, Charley Hoffman is 2 over through five holes, David Toms is 1 over through five holes and Ryan Moore, who was 2 under at one point today, has since fallen back to even after a double bogey on the par-3 fourth.
Conditions aren't going to get any easier, either. With Tropical Storm Danny spinning well off the coast, some nasty weather will continue to pound the New York City area. With no lightning in the area, they'll continue to play through it, but at some point Liberty National could become the dreaded oversaturated sponge under a running faucet. -- Brian Wacker
LEFTY'S ELBOW (9:15 a.m.): Phil Mickelson had an early tee time Friday morning, getting off to a shaky start with bogeys on two of his first three holes. Hopefully he's not feeling the aftereffects from his left elbow, which he stung while hitting a shot in the middle of his first round.
Mickelson said he was on the ninth hole when he hit a shot out of thick rough, jarring his elbow. Although he ended up with par -- the only par, incidentally in a five-hole stretch when he bogeyed the other four -- the elbow remained sore for a few holes as he finished up his 1-under 70.
"I don't think that it'll be an issue," Mickelson said, "but it did happen."
What might need even less healing is Mickelson's putter, which he was very happy with on Thursday. While he didn't make anything longer than 10 feet, he only missed one of 19 putts from inside that distance.
"That's critical for me," he said. "I felt good with it and I'm starting them online and I feel like I'm going to make some more putts as the week goes on. I feel like I'm back on track with that." -- Mike McAllister
SERGIO SLIDING (9 a.m.): Yesterday, Sergio Garcia, who shot a 6-under 65 to share the first-round lead, finished on a sour note, making a bogey on his final hole of the day. That negative momentum seems to have carried over to today -- Garcia is 2 over through his first six holes with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 4 and 5. As a result, he's dropped two back of the lead -- Paul Goydos and Steve Marino don't tee off until this afternoon.
It hasn't helped Garcia that conditions are difficult this morning with rain having already arrived at Liberty National. Meanwhile, Ryan Moore, who got his first PGA TOUR victory last week at the Wyndham Championship, has gone the other way with two birdies in his first three holes to get to within one of the lead. -- Brian Wacker
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